 Dust-jacket from the first edition. | |
| Author | Michael Moorcock |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Rowena Morrill |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | Ulrich von Bek |
| Genre | Fantasy |
| Publisher | Timescape |
Publication date | 1981 |
| Media type | Print (hardback) |
| Pages | 239 |
| ISBN | 0-671-43708-9 |
| OCLC | 7575956 |
| 823/.914 19 | |
| LC Class | PR6063.O59 W3 1981 |
| Followed by | The City in the Autumn Stars |
The War Hound and the World's Pain is a 1981 fantasy novel by English writer Michael Moorcock, the first of the "von Bek" series of novels.
The book is set in Europe ravaged by the Thirty Years' War. Its hero Ulrich von Bek is a mercenary and freethinker, who finds himself a damned soul in a castle owned by Lucifer. Much to his surprise, von Bek is charged by Lucifer with doing God's work, by finding the Holy Grail, the "cure for the world's pain", that will also cure Lucifer's pain by reconciling him with God. Only through doing this can von Bek save his soul.
After many adventures, von Bek eventually finds the Holy Grail, and discovers that it will set mankind on the path to self-redemption through rationality, without the help of God or the hindrance of Lucifer.
The story has a sequel in The City in the Autumn Stars (1986).
Dave Pringle reviewed The War Hound and the World's Pain for Imagine magazine: "I am pleased to report that it makes a delightful read. It is much superior to the earlier quickies in, say, the 'Dorian Hawkmoon' series, Moorcock has honed his skills over the years, and they now show a fine gleaming edge". [1]
Michael John Moorcock is an English–American writer, particularly of science fiction and fantasy, who has published a number of well-received literary novels as well as comic thrillers, graphic novels and non-fiction. He has worked as an editor and is also a successful musician. He is best known for his novels about the character Elric of Melniboné, which were a seminal influence on the field of fantasy in the 1960s and 1970s.
The Eternal Champion is a fictional character created by British author Michael Moorcock and is a recurrent feature in many of his speculative fiction works.
The Brothel in Rosenstrasse is a 1982 novel by Michael Moorcock. The main character is Rickhardt von Bek, a member of the family of Ulrich von Bek which is central to some of Moorcock's other fantasy novels, notably The War Hound and the World's Pain, The City in the Autumn Stars, and The Dragon in the Sword. The novel is written as Bek's memoir of a dying, demented man, in which he recalls his time with a bi-sexual teenage nymphet girl and how they take refuge in a superior brothel in a German city under siege during a 19th-century war. The standard German spelling of the name in the novel's title is "Rosenstraße".
Hello America is a science fiction novel by British writer J. G. Ballard, published in 1981. First edition cover designed by Bill Botten. The plot follows an expedition to a North America rendered uninhabitable by an ecological disaster following an energy crisis.
Robert Paul Holdstock was an English novelist and author best known for his works of Celtic, Nordic, Gothic and Pictish fantasy literature, predominantly in the fantasy subgenre of mythic fiction.
The City in the Autumn Stars: Being a Continuation of the Story of the Von Bek Family and Its Association With Lucifer, Prince of Darkness is a science fantasy novel by British author Michael Moorcock. The second book in the Von Bek trilogy, it was published by Grafton in 1986. The story centres on the characters of Manfred von Bek, a descendant of Ulrich von Bek, who is also the protagonist of the previous book in the series and Libussa Cartagena y Mendoza-Chilperic, the Duchess of Crete, along with their journey to the mystical Mittelmarch, and their search for the Holy Grail.
The Laughter of Carthage is a historical fiction novel by English author Michael Moorcock published by Secker & Warburg in 1984. It is the second in the Pyat Quartet tetralogy, preceded by Byzantium Endures and followed by Jerusalem Commands. It was written in tandem, one during the day, and one at night, with the second novel in the Von Bek series, The City in the Autumn Stars.
A Cure for Cancer is a novel by British fantasy and science fiction writer Michael Moorcock, first published in London 1971 by Allison and Busby. The book is part of Moorcock's long-running Jerry Cornelius series.
The Condition of Muzak is a novel by British fantasy and science fiction writer Michael Moorcock, published by Allison & Busby in 1977. It is the final novel of his long-running Jerry Cornelius series. It was first published in its revised form in 1979.
Una Persson is a recurring character in many of Michael Moorcock's 'multiverse' novels. She has also been used as a character in stories by other writers. She was the character Moorcock chose to start a round-robin story in The Guardian.
This is a bibliography of the works of Michael Moorcock.
Science Fiction: The 100 Best Novels, An English-Language Selection, 1949–1984 is a nonfiction book by David Pringle, published by Xanadu in 1985 with a foreword by Michael Moorcock. Primarily, the book comprises 100 short essays on the selected works, covered in order of publication, without any ranking. It is considered an important critical summary of the science fiction field.
Helliconia Spring is a novel by Brian W. Aldiss published in 1982.
This is a complete bibliography by American science fiction author Larry Niven:
The Complete Book of Science Fiction and Fantasy Lists is a book written by Malcolm Edwards and Maxim Jakubowski and published in 1983.
Superluminal is a novel by Vonda McIntyre published in 1983.
In Viriconium is a novel by M. John Harrison published in 1982. It is the third novel in the Viriconium series.
Against Infinity is a novel by Gregory Benford published in 1983.
The Entropy Exhibition: Michael Moorcock and the British 'New Wave' in Science Fiction is a book by Colin Greenland published in 1983.
Worlds is a novel written by Joe Haldeman and published in 1981.
 | This article about a 1980s fantasy novel is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. See guidelines for writing about novels. Further suggestions might be found on the article's talk page. |